The billionaire founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates, whose social foundation has focused on efforts to combat the Corona virus, plans to release a book on how to ensure that the Covid-19 pandemic is the last major global pandemic, on May 3.
In a blog revealing the book, Gates wrote: “When I see the suffering caused by Covid – every time I read about the latest death toll or hear about someone who has lost their job or is driving near a closed school – I can’t help but think: We have no possibility to do that again.”
The book will cover lessons learned from the pandemic, as well as the tools and innovations needed to save lives and stop pathogens early. He will discuss his views on vaccines and how he felt when he became the target of conspiracy theories.
And in January 2021, Gates outlined an ambitious plan to stop the next pandemic, calling for a global alert system, extensive testing, a cadre of 3,000 first responders “ready to launch” and tens of billions of dollars in annual spending.
This comes as the Gates Foundation has spent more than $2 billion to help fund the global response to the COVID-19 outbreak. That money has gone to groups like the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to boost testing in sub-Saharan Africa, as well as to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations to help fund the development of low-cost vaccines.
The Seattle Influenza Study – an initiative funded by the private Bill Gates Foundation, Gates Ventures – identified the first case of COVID-19 in the United States that did not come from abroad.
The good news, Gates said, is that advances in vaccines and the experience gained in combating respiratory diseases will help prevent a future crisis.
In addition, Covid has shown the world the cost of failure. “If we make the right choices and investments, we can make COVID-19 the last pandemic,” he said.